Police probe possible plot to kill Obama; two arrested, one with sniper rifle

Mug shot of Tharin Gartrell, one of two men suspected of an assassination plot against Sen. Barack Obama. (Photo/Aurora Police Department)

According to multiple sources, Aurora police made a routine traffic stop Sunday morning at 2:38 a.m. and arrested 28-year-old Tharin Gartrell. Sources say he was driving a rented pickup truck. The Secret Service says two rifles were found in his truck along with methamphetamine. Another law enforcement source says he was told at least one of the rifles was a “sniper rifle.”

A second source told CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass authorities told officers they are concerned they may have come upon a possible “assassination plot.”

That arrest then led authorities to a second man staying at the Cherry Creek Hotel at 600 South Colorado Blvd in Glendale. When authorities knocked on the man’s door, they say he jumped out of his sixth floor window, landing on an awning and running from the scene. They say they soon found him with a broken ankle. He too was arrested.